Faded
by MagicalMaria
Summary: With only fragments of her memories left, she struggles to remember the life she led before waking up aboard the Death Egg. Now, after coming across a prisoner who claims to be the fastest thing alive, she's plagued by thoughts of a similarly looking hedgehog but can't recall his name. Let alone her own. (Takes place during Sonic Forces so spoilers ahead!) Eventual Shadow/Maria
1. Chapter 1

Somebody stood in the doorway but she was unable to lift her head to see who it was. There was a crash outside, and then gunshots; Less ear-shattering than they'd been a few seconds ago. There was also screaming and crying but none of it was coming from her. The side of her face rested against the cold metallic floor, and she could literally feel the warmth of her body seep into it chunk by chunk- As if she were being absorbed by her very surroundings.

Her breathing was labored but the pain she felt was becoming numb. Her eyelids were growing heavier and heavier by the second, her vision blurring in and out of focus. She wanted to keep them open, to face whoever had done this to her despite the impending darkness eager to tug her away. They just remained in the doorway, both feet planted outside of the room and their weapon left like an afterthought on the floor beside them. Abandoned.

She knew the life she led on the ARK was over. She'd known the moment he'd wrapped his hand around her own and tried to make a run for it. She'd known when she felt the bullets whiz past them. She'd known long before she'd activated the escape pod.

Tears rained down her cheeks as she basked in the warmth of that single thought. Saving his life. Keeping him safe. It had been the best decision she'd ever made. She held onto it like a life jacket as her consciousness floated precariously on the surface between life and death. He was alive and that was enough.

If this was her last breath, she'd have no regrets.

The person that stood in the doorway was joined by more, and their dark figures suddenly flooded the room. They were all around her now, circling her like a hurricane. She could no longer make out any voices or feel her own body. Her eyelids must've slipped shut because she was suddenly engulfed by darkness.

o0o0o

A kaleidoscope of memories crossed her mind, and a part of her was convinced it was the moment one's life flashed before their own eyes. She welcomed it with open arms, knowing full well it would probably be the last time she'd ever be able to witness them again. But then something cold nipped at her skin and she was reluctantly dragged away from it. As soon as the sensation had come, it was gone.

o0o0o

At one point there were voices.

Pain.

The smell of blood.

And then an endless void.

o0o0o

Light blinded her suddenly. Her body was rocked by an indescribable cold and she was struggling to breathe. Something wrapped itself around her limbs to keep her from thrashing about as air was suddenly pumped into her lungs. She gasped and wheezed, realizing for the first time how strongly her own heartbeat pumped inside her chest. How desperately she felt the need to live.

Her head rears back and she opens her eyes. Unseeing at first, but gradually adjusting to the light. She sees her long hair floating above her in gold waves. A long metal tube hangs down from the low ceiling, connecting to the device strapped around her mouth and nose. The things holding her wrists and ankles let go, and her body goes limp.

Her mind remains comfortably blank as she watches air bubbles rise and disappear.

"Now now my dear. Everything's going to be okay...," a voice tells her, though it sounds far away. "You're with family now."

* * *

A/N: Oh boy, who could that be? :D

I know it's short, but I had a very random urge to write something after watching Sonic Forces playthroughs for like the millionth time. So spoilers ahead~

Also, things might get graphic in future chapters (Just a heads up in case you don't like reading about blood and gore and such). I think it'll be kept to a minimum for now, but I'll make sure to warn ya'll ahead of time. Anyways, I hope you liked the first chapter! Hope you guys stick around for the rest! ^^


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Something weird happened to the chapter so I'm gonna try reposting it one more time. I think everything's okay now, but it was very weird o.o

* * *

 _Family._

The word repeated over and over in her head until finally, she was stirred awake. She stretches her arms and legs, surprised to feel a cold, soft bed. Her head pounded painfully so she turns her head to press against it, and takes her time opening her eyes. Her whole body felt heavy. She wanted to go back to sleep but found it difficult to ignore the soreness in her muscles from being in bed for so long.

As soon as the headache is gone, she opens her eyes. The room is brightly lit and surprisingly bare. No furniture except for the bed she lay on top of, though even that was plain: No pillows or sheets, just a smooth, thin mattress. No decorations, either. The walls and floor were all made of metal, and there weren't any windows or doors for that matter. She pushes herself up into a sitting position so she can lean against the wall behind her and get a better look. It felt like she was in a box.

The drowsiness she felt was also overwhelming.

Rubbing her eyes, she tries to put some effort into remembering what happened to her. There are some images, but they're all fuzzy and difficult to make out. She can remember people, but none of their faces were clear enough to remember who they were. There were loud noises. Screaming, maybe? Dark uniforms, and a sense of danger. Fear.

There was also a hand. A white-gloved hand. Then sadness.

That's all she could remember.

She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. It's blonde and reaches down to her waist. Looking down, she notices the pale blue outfit she wore for the first time. It was a sleeveless dress that fell mid-thigh and made of a thin, rough fabric. Similar to a hospital gown, she thought. The comparison comes out of nowhere and sticks in her mind for a while. The next thing she notices was the most alarming of all, and probably the final thing to rouse her from her calm. A thick, metallic choker was covering her neck. She traces her fingers around the entirety of it, trying to find a way to remove it. She feels ridges and small bolts holding it together, but nothing to suggest it could be taken off.

Nothing was adding up. The strange room, clothes, and the fact that she couldn't seem to remember anything. Who were the people in uniforms? Where was she? Had she been brought here against her will? Did something happen to her? And who... who was she?

That last question made her heart go into overdrive. This wasn't good. She couldn't just sit here, waiting for whoever brought her here to finish the job. She couldn't curl up and go back to sleep. As she rushes to the edge of the bed and stands up, she feels a wave of dizziness hit her. She squeezes her eyes shut and grits her teeth as she waits for the vertigo to pass. Her legs felt a bit numb but she manages to walk toward the wall across from the bed with some effort. There had to be a way to get out of here. She couldn't have just magically appeared one day. As she tries to find any trace of an exit around the wall, another thought came to mind. What was on the other side? She didn't have anything to defend herself with, and who knew what or **who** was out there. She knew she wouldn't find the answers until she got out, but her body was suddenly still and her bare feet were glued to the floor. Her limbs felt heavy and she wanted to sit down.

Why did she want to go outside again? Wouldn't it be easier if she just went back to sleep? Maybe if she closed her eyes, she'd be able to remember the owner of the gloved hand. As she tries to think of who they could be, that strong sense of sadness hits her again. She latches onto it, refusing to let it go for the second time. She got the feeling someone was depending on her, and she couldn't let them down.

"I'll find you," she whispers. It was the first time she'd spoken anything aloud, and she found it strange. _This is how I sound like?_

As she dwells on her latest discovery, the wall in front of her suddenly splits apart. She nearly gets a heart attack as she takes a step back, shocked by both the appearance of the exit and the figure that came with it. A large robot with wheels for legs stood in front of her. The robot looked more like two boxes stacked on top of each other, except its face was a screen featuring large, half-lidded eyes, bright red lips, and a mole on the corner of its mouth. They wore a pink nurses uniform and matching nurses cap atop their head, where curls of orange hair fell around its face. The robot didn't pause for a second and rolled right into the room, forcing its inhabitant to awkwardly stumble out of its way. As she does so, she notices the door, which was actually the walls tucked into the sides of the room begin to slowly shut again.

The robot starts to say something in its electronic voice, but she isn't able to catch most of it as she grabs the edge of the door and pulls herself out. "-has awakened," the nursebot says. It stops in the center of the room and turns around. Arms slink out of secret compartments and it reaches toward the door.

She panics and covers her face with her arms in fright. There's a sound of metal crashing against metal and then silence. When nothing else happens, she lowers her arms and notices the door was still closed. There was no telling how long it would stay like that so she starts walking. As she rounds a corner, she stays there and tries to catch her breath. She looks back toward the door to her room several feet away just as it opens again and the same nursebot hurries out, arms waving above its head in a panic.

"Doctor! Must alert the doctor!" it cries, spinning several times as it swerves and heads in the opposite direction of her.

A doctor? Wouldn't that suggest she was in a hospital? But as she looked around, her surroundings suggested anything but. It was much darker outside than it had been in her room and everything was cast in an eerie blue light. As her eyes adjust and she looks around, she takes note of the colder temperature and rubs her arms. Everything was made of metal like it had been in the room, and the ceilings were so high she wondered if she were in a building at all. It felt more like a fortress.

She also didn't feel as tired as she did a few minutes ago. A bit unsteady maybe, but her muscles were finally loosening up and she was able to find her sea legs. If the nursebot went to tell the doctor about her escape, she had to stay on high alert. At least until she found a way out of here, and she couldn't do that until she found out where she was. There weren't any signs to help her navigate around. The doors to her room had been more distinguishable from the outside than they'd been inside, but as far as she could see, her room was the only one present in the current area. Nothing adorned the walls and there weren't any windows in sight. The place felt totally empty.

Good. She wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by.

She hears a faint buzzing sound up ahead, so she quickly straightens up and walks quickly in that direction. Her bare feet pound against the chill floor, and the sound echoes through the empty halls. There's a turn up ahead and she slows down to a stop as the room opens up to reveal a wide, open space. The path she was on became fenced in by a metal railing and turned into a long winding bridge that disappeared behind several towers of machinery. As she looked over the side of the railing, she could see other paths crisscrossing each other many levels below her. There was no end in sight for the titanic machines either, just a dark abyss. Large lights along the walls provided visibility, and for a moment, she wondered if she was in some sort of factory. She caught movement above her and watched as a crane arm flew past her while carrying a big bulk of a machine. As she follows it, she notices what looks like a window along the wall, but all she can see outside is a dark sky and stars. She felt compelled to stop and stare, but she keeps going. What was this place? It was enormous.

She walks for several more minutes, head turning to and fro as she tries to soak it all in.

After a while, she enters a different section of the building. The path she was on looked like it circled around a bottomless pit. Curious, she walked closer to get a better look, discovering a lone platform in the middle of it several feet away, and with no noticeable way of getting to it. Looks like she's reached a dead end. As she runs her hands along the railing and continues to move, she notices the light fixtures she'd seen until now were gone, and instead, replaced by a huge glass dome that dominated the ceiling overhead. Her jaw drops as she registers what it is she's looking at.

The moon, but not all of it. Not even half of it took up the view. Was it supposed to be so close? Its surface glowed so brightly that it filled the room with moonlight. The craters were well defined and more detailed than they should've been. At least, she had a feeling they weren't supposed to be so clear. Were they floating around the moon that very second?

Her grip on the railing tightened as her legs began to shake, and she forced herself to look away. Trying to make heads or tails of it was making her sick to her stomach. As she tried to find her bearings, she was suddenly struck by the feeling of being watched.

"I knew it! Everybody look! Someone's here!"

She jumps at the high-pitched voice and feels her heart nearly burst out of her chest. Her eyes quickly flicker behind her until they stop on an animal. Several, actually. All of which were huddled together behind a barred door. And they were standing.

"Hey, you! Get us out of here!" a bunny demanded.

"Help us!" shouted a bear.

"Stop! You can't trust her!" growled a fox.

Soon, everybody in the cell was joining in and began to pound their fists against the bars. Some of them cried and begged for help, while others glared and shouted obscenities at her, threatening her for no good reason at all. There were so many of them, and she felt herself backing away in shock and nearly fall over the railing in her haste to get away. Their screaming becomes more desperate and she lets out a horrified cry as her legs give out from under her. In her panic, she twists her body in the opposite direction and begins to crawl away. Her breathing was becoming shallow, and there was no stopping the trembling that rattled her body. In a confined space like this, their voices seemed to bounce off the walls from every direction, giving her the impression she was surrounded. She just needed to get away.

Over the harsh screams and tearful pleas, she hears a male voice reach her ears as she manages to get further away from the group.

"Hey! What's going on? Are you guys alright!?"

She doesn't know how far she gets until she slams head-first into something solid, and she slumps to the floor reflexively to cradle her head.

"Whoa! Are you okay? That sounded like it hurt."

Tears form in the corners of her eyes as she sits up and rubs her hand against her throbbing forehead. _"It did...!"_

"Hmm. Let me see if you got a bump. Move your hand."

Cringing at the pain that still lingered there, she did as she was told and removed her hand. Sniffing back tears, she opens her watery eyes to see who she was speaking to, and was met by a snout and shiny round nose as he presses his face between the bars to try and get a closer look. He was like the others, except the majority of his body was covered in blue fur and what looked like sharp quills on the back of his head. His socks were tucked into bright red sneakers, and the only other clothing to join them were two matching white gloves. Her eyes lingered there for a few seconds, as she's reminded of the gloved hands from her own memories- or what little of them remained. If it weren't for the glowing blue handcuffs strapped to his wrists and ankles coming into view, she probably wouldn't have been able to snap out of it.

"Nope. You're good," he announces cheerfully. "Which is lucky, cuz I don't think I've ever seen anyone crawl as fast as you did. And that's saying a lot considering I'm the fastest thing on two legs." His tone wasn't unpleasantly hostile or scary at all. In fact, he sounded pretty friendly and calm despite the circumstances he appeared to be in. It didn't hurt that he wasn't screaming at her, either. His green eyes met her own as she continued to assess this new individual, and when he aimed her a curved smile, she couldn't help but relax. "I'm guessing _you're_ the cause of all the commotion?"

"I... yes," she confesses, her voice quivering without her permission. Speaking to somebody else still felt bizarre to her, especially after not having come across another soul (robot or otherwise) in so long. She looks over her shoulder then, taking a cautious peek toward the group that had been in an uproar a few minutes ago. Some of them were still watching her like a hawk, while others were now whispering quietly amongst their selves.

Following her gaze, he lowers his voice. "Hey, try not to take it to heart, okay? We don't really get a lot of visitors down here, so they tend to go a little overboard. They're good people, though, I promise."

At his words, the stiffness in her shoulders disappears and she responds with a smile. "O-okay."

"Ack! Where are my manners? I've been stuck in this place for so long I guess even I'm getting rusty in the greeting department." He extends one of his cuffed hands as far as he can through the bars and grins. "My name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?"

She's caught off guard for a moment but immediately returns the gesture. "It... It's nice to meet you," she says. His hand was larger than her own, but also gentle and surprisingly warm. Again, she finds herself absorbed in her memories and wondering about the owner of those gloved hands. Had they also been a hedgehog? Something close to it? Now, as she held Sonic's hand in her own, the images seemed to blend more seamlessly then they had before. Her brows knit in frustration as she tries to shoo away the gathering fog, but her mind wasn't having any of it, and she was left in the dark.

The concerned tone of Sonic's voice brought her back to reality. "Uh, you okay?"

Sonic couldn't have expected that to be such a loaded question. Her hand slips out of his grasp then and falls on top of her lap. She stares at it, wishing more than anything for someone she couldn't remember to be holding it instead. "I... I don't think so. I can't remember who I am."

* * *

A/N: I have a bunch of family coming over tomorrow to ring in the new year, so I really wanted to get this posted before then. That, and I just really wanted to get Sonic into the picture asap xD Don't think I haven't forgotten about him getting tortured, either. Since they never show anything in the game, I'm just gonna write my own spin on things. Also, notice how I didn't ignore the other prisoners? Cuz the game sure did. This won't be the last time we see them. Thank you to everyone who faved, followed, and left a review! It makes me really happy and motivates me to keep going. I hope you all have a Happy New Year! See you in 2018~


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean you can't remember? Do you have amnesia?"

"I don't... I'm not really sure," she murmurs. "I just... woke up."

Sonic's brow furrowed. With a thoughtful hum, he shifts his weight from his right to left leg and studies her openly.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she finds it difficult to maintain eye contact and turns away. Her fingers dug into the fabric of her dress, trembling slightly against her thighs from the nervousness she felt. Shoulders became stiff and back hunched as she kept her face down. She could feel his eyes on her and her face grew warm, realizing how silly she must've looked and had probably sounded. She hoped he didn't suspect her of making up stories in order to avoid telling him her name. She wanted to introduce herself, she really did, but her name... it just wasn't coming back to her. As she anxiously awaited the hedgehog's judgment, he suddenly gave a half laugh.

"You sure you didn't scramble your brain when you hit your head?"

"I-! _I did not!"_ she bellowed.

The outburst was greeted with a chorus of laughter when she instinctively reached for her forehead, and she pouted. Why was he teasing? Hadn't she answered his previous questions seriously? Befuddled and upset, she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind when she noticed something odd. His smile was bright and his laughter genuine, but in contrast to that- _his eyes._ The dark bags she hadn't noticed before brought a heaviness to those emerald hues. A weariness to his overall appearance. _Why hadn't she noticed them before?_ she wondered. When he laughed, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

Tension resolved, Sonic waves a dismissive hand. "I'm just messin' with ya. So you're saying you can't remember your name but you aren't sure you got amnesia either?"

She does her best to adjust to his shift in tone but gets tongue-tied.

Noticing this, Sonic gives the smallest of sighs. He smiles gently and points toward her. "You said you woke up. Where?"

Her head shakes. "Ugh... I don't... I'm not sure."

"Hey, no pressure," he tries to reassure her. "If it helps, just describe it for me."

"Um... I was in a room. A small, white room...," she pauses to look back at him, and he nods, urging her to continue, "alone. There wasn't anything inside except for a bed. And there weren't any windows or doors. There was just me."

The blue hedgehog cocks his head to the side and frowns. "How'd you get out?"

"I tried to look for something on the wall. A hidden button, or a secret... _anything_ , but before I could, the wall opened by itself and a robot dressed liked a nurse strolled in. It looked silly, but it was slow and I was able to go around it and get out of the room. I watched it zoom off somewhere, saying it had to tell the doctor."

"Weird," Sonic muttered under his breath. "Why would Egghead want to keep you hidden away like that...?"

She knits her brow at what she thinks he says. _"Egghead?"_

"So you can't remember anything before that?" he asks, ignoring her question. "Your name or where you were before waking up here?"

"No..." She shakes her head and fixes her gaze on her lap. There wasn't anything in the room that could give her a clue about her past, and without any recollection of her name, she was pretty much a blank slate. The acknowledgment of that made her feel hollow somehow. Uncomfortable.

"Wow, that was brave."

Her eyes go wide as she slowly looks up again. Sonic has a smile on his face, and past the dark circles, a glint in his eye. With a small grunt, he settles on the floor in front of her and crosses his legs as best he can with his cuffed ankles.

"You must've been really confused to find yourself in a situation like that, but what you did was really brave."

"Brave...?"

Sonic nods. "Yeah. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's like a maze in here. You probably had to walk a long way to find this place," he says, gesturing around him. "And even though you didn't know what to expect, you didn't give up."

"I didn't," she admitted, practically shocked. She thinks about the short time she'd spent after waking up in that room, tired and confused. How she'd panicked at the realization that she didn't know _who_ or _where_ she was. How scared she'd been when she couldn't find a way out. How she'd hesitated when considering escape, but had still been able to act the moment she had the chance. Since stepping out of that room, she'd been captivated by her surroundings, and locked in a state of fascination. It hadn't dawned on her until now how far she'd been able to go after she'd taken that first step. How many emotions she'd experienced in just that short amount of time.

Tears spilled from her eyes unabashedly as a smile worked its way across her face. "Thank you, Mr. Sonic. You're very kind."

Caught slightly off guard by the tears, his own smile wavered. "Hey, no need to cry. It isn't like I did anything, really. Oh, but none of that _'Mr.'_ stuff, okay? It's just, Sonic."

"O-okay."

He sighed, watching the girl as she wipes her tears with the backs of her hands. "You must've been through a lot."

"I... I was scared," she confessed. "So scared I actually thought about going back to sleep."

"It's a good thing you didn't."

"Yeah. I... I might not remember who I am, or my past, but I knew I wouldn't get the answers by staying in bed." Her thoughts go back to the room and the moment she'd stood on her own two feet. Then to the first time she'd heard her own voice, and the vow she'd made to a person unknown. A person she wasn't sure existed at all. "I don't know if it was a dream or a memory, but there's this image in my head that's stuck with me since I woke up."

"What kind of image?" Sonic asks.

"Hands."

"Ugh, hands?"

She nods as she raises her own. "Yes. Hands in white gloves. Hands that look similar to yours, actually. I don't know whose hands they belonged to, but one of them was holding mine, or even taking me somewhere. I'm not really sure. There're other images, too, but they aren't as clear or easy to remember."

Following along, Sonic strokes his chin in thought. "So even though you can't remember your own name, you remember someone holding your hand? You sure there isn't anything else?"

With an anxious frown on her face, she sighs. "No, nothing."

Sonic mirrors her sigh. "Sorry to tell you this, but similar hands or not, I'm not the guy you're looking for. White gloves have always sort of been the norm, you know? Or, well, I guess you wouldn't know." He points in the direction of the other prisoners as he turns his body and leans his right shoulder against the barred door. She has to inch forward to be able to see them around the railing that blocked her view, but when she does, she's struck by the intensity of a handful of eyes belonging to those still aggressively suspicious. Before turning away she does manage to take note of their hands; All of which were fashioned in the same white gloves that Sonic himself wore.

It was disappointing to see, but Sonic had been right. Her only lead had already hit a dead end.

Catching sight of her dismay, Sonic puts on the charm and does his best to cheer her up. "Hey, there's no way you could've known. Plus, even if I had been the person from your memory, I'd remember meeting a girl like you."

Her face warms at this declaration. "R-really?"

"Uh huh. I might've met a ton of people on my travels, but you don't normally come across a human with eyes so blue."

"Blue?" Her hands grasp the bars on either side of him as she rushes forward. " _My eyes are blue?"_

She'd have missed him flinch if she hadn't been so close to him. "Yeah, they're blue."

"Like your fur? Like this dress?" The questions burst from her mouth so fast, she could hardly understand where the excitement was coming from.

Sonic sat in a position where he could fully face her again. This was the first time throughout their meeting he'd seen her so animated, and compared to the reserved attitude she exhibited before, it was certainly welcomed, but also concerning given what he knows. "Not as blue as me, but darker than your dress. Are you telling me you didn't know the color of your own eyes?" He wondered how she wasn't dizzy yet with all the shaking her head was doing in response to his questions. "I'm guessing there weren't any mirrors in that room of yours?"

Again, with the shaking. "No. I know I have blonde hair and pale skin, but I had no idea I had blue eyes. That's great news."

"Why's that?"

"Because it's something," she says confidently. She could tell by the look on his face that the hedgehog found her elation at the knowledge bewildering, but next to the discovery of her own voice, finding out the color of her eyes felt like an achievement just as grand. It wasn't something that could be replaceable like a dress or forgettable like a memory. They were more than just a physical attribute. Her eyes were a part of her. They were what made her, well, _**her.**_ Whoever she was. "I might not have a name, but I... I know I have blue eyes. And I... I have a feeling blue was my favorite color, too."

Why she was able to remember something as trivial as that and not her own name was beyond even her level of comprehension.

Her explanation must've done something to get through to him because he was back to aiming her a teasing look. _"'A feeling?'"_

 _"_ A feeling," she says matter-a-factly.

Pleased by the glow of confidence she displayed, Sonic hoped his next question wouldn't lead to her unraveling. "Well, while we're at it. Are you also aware of the weird coll- _er,_ **necklace** around your neck?"

The sudden reminder drew her hand to her throat as she felt the metal wrapped around it. Its surface was warm under her fingers and against her skin. Admittedly, she'd forgotten all about it. It wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest, and she wondered if it had been designed that way on purpose so that it went unnoticed. Wearing this thing _\- as pointed out by her new friend-_ couldn't have been normal though.

"When I woke up I was already wearing it."

"Can you take it off?"

"I tried to, but I don't think it's meant to come off." She grasps the contraption from either side with both hands and tugs, but it remained firmly in place.

"Maybe it's fastened on the back? Try rotating it."

"I've already tried, Sonic," she says, but does as he suggested. Since she couldn't see it directly herself, the second pair of eyes could probably help find something she'd missed. As she spun it around her neck, her fingers failed to discover anything new or find anything out of place, but as the back portion of the device made it to the front, Sonic's eyes widened. "Do you see something?"

Sonic nods. "There's something written on this side."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Is it my name?"

"Ugh, no. All it says is **M.1.A.**."

"M.1.A.?" She tries to pull the choker far enough from her throat to get a look herself, but she only manages to strain her neck in the process. It only added to the growing frustration she felt to having more unanswered questions. "I don't understand. Why M.1.A.? _What does that even mean?"_

 _Is that supposed to be me...?_

She turns to Sonic, desperate for any sort of suggestion or new observation, but his kind, tired eyes were fixed with sympathy and her heart pounded in her ears. It wasn't the reassurance she hoped for. He watched her intently as his mouth opened then immediately snapped shut. As if conflicted over something he wasn't sure he should say.

Her stomach twisted into knots and her heart went still. Was this really it? Was **this** the answer to who she was? Her identity was reduced to nothing but letters and numbers printed across a... _collar?_

Sonic snaps his fingers. "I got it!" When her gaze returns to Sonic, the blue hedgehog had on a smile so bright she was practically blinded by the sight. "Mia!"

She blinks. "What?"

"Your name! I got the idea just now while looking at your necklace. I know it isn't the real thing, but I figure it's better than nothing. What do you think?"

"You got that from M.1.A.?" she asks, taken aback.

He shrugs. "The '1' reminded me of an 'I'."

The genuine reply earned him a blank stare. Then, just as suddenly, a lone tear trickled down her cheek. It sounded so simple. _So silly._ "That's the name you came up with?"

"It doesn't have to be that!" Sonic yelled, panic in his voice. "It can be anything you want. You don't have to-"

"I like it," she tells him. Her heart trembled in her chest, and she holds a hand against it, fearing it may burst and soar away. "It sounds nice."

"You're not just saying that?" When she shakes her head, Sonic breathes a sigh of relief.

Tears flowed freely now.

A name. She had a name.

And it sounded familiar somehow. New but familiar. It was so difficult to explain.

"The crying's giving me mixed signals here," Sonic murmurs. He gestures for her to come closer and she leans forward. One of his gloved hands reach through the bars and he gently runs his large fingers against her face, wiping away tears. The action comes as a surprise, but she doesn't pull away. "Water's one of my biggest weaknesses. Don't go spreading that around okay?"

Mia smiles and nods. "Your secret's safe with me."

* * *

A/N: Happy new year everyone! And yay she has a name! But for how long? Time will only tell~

Sonic's so creative lol


End file.
